Brassiere



July 30, 1935. M. DE w. FRENCH 2,009,731

BRAssIERE Filed April 15, 1954 I8 |S\ 6 lnv e nTon Mary DeWo\F French 20 zz MW&W

Patented July 30, 1935 PATENT "OFFICE BRASSIERE Mary De Wolf French, Warren, E. 1. Application April 13, 1934, Serial No. 720,386

8 Claims.

This invention involves a novel constructionof brassiere and has for its object to provide a simple and efficient construction which may be worn with entire; comfort and which will act efficiently tohold the breasts in normal position, which may be readily cons'ructed, which is light in Weight and of a strong and durable character.

These and other objects and features of the invention will appear more fully from the accompanying description and drawing and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing: 1

Fig. l is a front view of apreferred form of the brassieren Fig. 2 is a rear View partially broken away.

Fig. 3 is a plan view illustrating how abreast pocket is made from a single piece of material. I

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a material for one of the gussets. V I

Figs. 5, 6, and Tare. detail views illustrating successive steps in the folding of the portion of the outer end of the material forming the rear wall of a breast pocket.

It, will be understood that the drawing isillustrative and that in particular Figs. 1 and 2 are not to be taken as disclosing any definite position that the article assumes.

The brassiere may be made of any suitable material, preferably of a relatively thin, light weight, woven fabric such as cotton or silk'and the dimensions will vary with the person of the wearer, but the construction is such that one size'of brassire readily fits quite a wide range .in size of bust measure;

One feature of the invention is the simplicity of the construction or patterns of the material employed and the simple operations which are required for the assembly of the different-parts.

The brassire comprises essentially of sternum piece, two breast pocket pieces, two gussets, two belt pieces, and two suspender straps. Each of these several pieces is formed from a rectangular piece of the material cut with the warp and weft threads. Thusthere is practically no wastage of the material employed. In fact, the only portions of the material discarded are small portions from the pieces employed informing the breast pockets.

' In "describing a preferred construction, relative' dimensions are given suitablefor a brassire up to thirty eight inches bust measure, but it will be understood that these dimensions are illustrative and may be varied within the scope of the invention. .1 The-sternum piece I is a rectangular piece of the material 2" x 3" doubled upon itself and having its edges inturned, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The two belt pieces 2 are each rectangular strips of the material 4" x" 1'7 Each strip is folded longitudinally and has its edges inturned, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The free ends of the'belt pieces thus formed, when the brassiere is in place on the wearer, are secured together by suitable fastening means. For this purpose the belt pieces are either shortenedto the required length or the fastening devices properly located thereupon so as to hold the brassire snugly in place upon the body of the wearer. The fasteningde vices here illustrated are hooks and eyes 3 and are placed with the hook portions extending away from the body. But it will be understood that any suitable fastening. devices may be employed. The breast pocket pieces are the portions of the brassire with which the invention is more particularly concerned. Each is of similar construction and the material for the left-hand one isillustrated in Fig. 3. This piece is shown as 13 long and 12" deep. In constructing the breast pocket, this piece is first folded along the line 4 parallel with the'top andbottomedges to form a front wall 5 and a rear wall 6. This line of fold is preferably located so that thegdepth of the front wall 5 is on the order of 40% greater 6, which in this than the depth of the rear wall case makes the depth of the front wall portion of the piece ofmaterial 7 and the depth of therear wall 5". I

A portion of the sternum piece I is shown in Fig. 3 with its lower edge I in line with the fold 4 and a portion of the adjacent belt piece 2 is shown with its lower edge 8 in line with the fold 4. y In the formation'of the front wall of the breast pocketythe upper andlower edges'! and 10 are inturned and hemmed. 'The upper edge 9 is slightly shortened at the inner-endeither by removinga small portion] or by disregarding this portion in the subsequent stitching operation. The innerend'of the front wall extending from thepoint I2 to the point l3 at the end of the fold is, reduced f by fairly regular gathers, as shown at M in Fig. 1, until this'end is of such adepth that it may be inserted between the edges'of the sternum piece I and be'reduced to the same depth as the sternum piece. At the opposite or outer end the front wall is also reduced in depth by a series of wide pleats, suchas the three pleats I5, so'that the depth of this front wall extending from the point I 8 to the point I l is reduced to the depth of the belt piece 2 and so that it may be inserted between the edges of the belt piece.

In the formation of the rear wall of the breast pocket, the material is folded preferably by a single large fold or pleat at the outer end of the material to reduce the depth of the rear wall at the outer end to the depth of the belt piece 2 and this pleat is so formed as to give fullness to the rear wall at the inner end. The formation of this pleat is shown in Figs. 5. to 7. The desired result may be secured by dividing the outer edge of the material, as shown in Fig. 3, from the bottom edge in to the line 4 into approximately thirds as by the points it and IS. The material is then foldedso as to bring the edge if! onto the point I8 with the point 29 distant about an inch from the point IS, with the size herein indicated; thus producing the fold indicated in Fig. 5. Next the material is folded to bring the folded edge 2i up to the point I? with the point 59 about an inch from the point i or to the position shown in Fig. 6. Next the material is folded on the line l or to the position as shown in Fig; 7. This brings therear wall up parallel with the front wall with a bellows fold in between with fullnessextending below the line of fold! at the inner end adjacent the sternum piece. The portion of the pleat or fold projecting beyond the outer edge of the rear wall as shown in Fig. 7, isthen cut off, enabling the rear wall, along with the pleated outerend of the front wall, to be inserted into the belt piece 2. Y V p v 7 At the inner end of the rear wallthe point 22 coincides with the; upper edge of the sternum piece I and the depth of the inner end of the rear wall is reduced to the depth of the sternum piece by a pleat orbellows fold preferably a continuation of that formed as illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and '7 and thus leaving the inner surface of the rear wall at the sternum piece fiat. This pleat or fold, when pressed downward, gives the fullness desired at the inner end of the breast pocket. V In uniting the breast pocket thus formed to the sternum piece, the inner end is placed between the layers of the sternum piece anda portion of the rear wall at its lewer inner end, indicated at 23 in Fig.2 is pulled inwardly between the layers of "the sternum piece; Then this edge is secured in place together with the edges of the sternum piece by suitable stitching 24. At the outer end the pleated and gathered edge above described is P as d beiw nili la rs 5 the 1t e.;b9i s adjnstedif necessary to therequired width 'or depth to correspond therewith, and then the as: sembled portions are stitched together by stitching 26. a V The gussets, in the preferred form illustrated, are each fprmed from a square piece of fabric showninli'ig. 4, which in this case is about 3 4; in each dimension. 7 This square piece is folded at on the biasor at an angle of 45 to the warp and weft, thus forming a gusset or triangular piece which by reason of the bias fold is'elastic in the direction of the line of fold. The gusset is securedby stitching'to the inner upper edges of the walls of the breast pocket as shown in Figs. land 2 and is so located that its apex ZB is at the corner of the sternum piece whileits edges are secured bystitching 29 i to theedges iof' the pocket walls, causing its base 21 which extendson the bias to form a yielding upper end of the peck et; But it will be understood that theg'ussets may be made of other material, such, for 'exarnple,- as a fabric in which the threads contain rubber and in such case the elasticity in thedi v rection of the base 21 0f the'gusset would be due to the yielding character of the. threads.

Shoulder straps 30 are provided each extending from the upper edge of the breast pocket over to a suitable point on the adjacent belt piece. Preferably at the point where the shoulder strap is secured to the front wall of the breast pocket, the upper edge of the front wall is folded inward at 3|, which makes the construction stronger at this point and also assists in preventing the brassire showing with a garment having a low cut neck. 1

The brassiere constructed in accordance with the principle of this invention provides breast pockets having ample fullness which engage the breasts and hold them easily and firmly in normal position. The elastic gussets provided at the inner ends of the pockets enable a perfect fit to be secured without strain as the brassiere is held in place. The construction at the lower inner end of the breast pocket is such as to provide fullness and at the same time by reason of the overlapping c'onstruction shown at 23 the line of pull between the belt piece and the sternum piece is such as to insure that the sternum piece will be held flat against the body and not protrude forward at its lower end. By reason of the construction described, the upper edge of the front wall is materially longer than the upper edge of the rear wall of the breast pocket so that as the upper edge of the rear wall is crowded down somewhat when in position the front wall is free to rise, enabling the front wall to fit over the breast and hold it firmly in elevated position.

The principle of the construction is such that in practice it is only necessary to secure the belt snugly around the'body without drawing it uncomfortably tight and the function of the shoulder straps is reduced largely to that of positioning the parts. The shoulder straps, in fact, have only a minor function as supportingiriembers because the support of the breasts is due almost entirelyto the lifting action of the breast pockets themselves when the br'assiere is in place and the belt pieces are connected. 7

It will be seen that the fear wall of each breast pocket, being much more snug than the front wall, assists in holding the breast in position but at the same time gives plenty of room for deep breathing, The gathering in the front Wall holds the breast if the wearer bends forward to the floor and also gives extra fullness at the front enabling the breast to have a more natural app'earahc'e. The large pleat in the rear 'wall also gives the required fullness and with the minimum bulk.

There is thus presented a highly efficient and simple construction, of brass'iei'e which may be worn with entire comfort and which functions without strain to secure a pleasing and normal figure. While the various features of construction described all assist in securing the desired result, the elastic gussets at the inner ends of the breastpockets, the construction of the rear walls of the breast pockets fitting the body and yet giving the required fullness for the lower parts of thejbreasts and'the inwardly disposed folds where the inner ends of the rear walls are connected to the sternum piece acting to hold the sternumpiece against the body are of particular importance.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be securedby Letters Patent, isz' i l. A brassiere comprising a sternum piece, apair of belt pieces, 'a pair of breastpockets, each of said pockets comprising a piece of fabric folded to form the pocket with its free edges extending between and connecting the upper edge of the sternum piece and one of the belt pieces, in which the top edge of the front wall of the pocket is longer than the top edge of the rear wall, in which the inner and outer edges of the pocketare contracted and secured, respectively, to the sternum piece and adjacent belt piece with the depth of the fabric thus contracted in the front wall on the order of forty per cent. greater than that contracted in the rear wall, and in which the lower portion of the rear wall is shorter at'its connection to the sternum piece than the upper portion, and an elastic gusset secured to the inner upper edges of the pocket walls with its apex at the sternum piece and its base forming a yielding upper inner end of the pocket, and shoulder straps connecting the top edges of the pockets and adjacent belt pieces. g

2. A brassiere comprising a. sternum piece, a pair of belt pieces, a pair of breast pockets, each of said pockets comprising a piece of fabric folded to form the pocket with the front wall materially deeper than the rear wall, with the free edges extending between and connecting the upper edges of the sternum piece and one of the belt pieces with the inner and outer edges contracted and secured, respectively to the sternum piece and adjacent belt piece and With an elastic gusset secured to the inner upper edges with its apex at the sternum piece and its base forming a yielding upper inner edge of the pocket, and shoulder straps connecting the top edges of the pockets and adjacent belt pieces.

3. A brassire comprising a sternum piece, a pair of belt pieces, a pair of breast pockets, each of said pockets comprising a piece of fabric folded to form a relatively shallow rear and a relatively deep front wall with the inner and outer edges contracted and secured, respectively, to the sternum piece and adjacent belt piece and with the free edge of the front wall materially longer than the free edge of the rear wall and with the lower portion of the rear wall overlapping the sternum piece, the said construction acting, when in place, to hold the sternum piece flat against the body and to raise the breasts into normal position.

4. A brassiere comprising a sternum piece, a pair of belt pieces, a pair of breast pockets connecting the sternum piece and the belt pieces, and an elastic gusset secured to the inner upper edges of each breast pocket with its apex at the sternum piece and its base forming an elastic upper inner edge of the pocket.

5. A brassiere comprising a sternum piece, a pair of belt pieces, a pair of breast pockets connecting the sternum piece and the belt pieces, and a gusset of woven fabric secured to the inner upper edges of each breast pocket with its apexat the sternum piece and its base extending on the bias to form an upper inner edge of the pocket.

6. A brassiere comprising a sternum piece, a

pair of belt pieces, a pair of breast pockets having front and rear walls, each pocket being secured at one end to the sternum piece and at the other end to one of the belt pieces, with each rear'wall having its upper and lower portions secured to the sternum piece and having said secured lower portion lying advanced inward with respect to its upper portion tocause the construction when in place to hold the sternum piece flat against the body and to raise the breasts into normal position.

. 7. A brassiere'comprising the construction defined in claim 3, in which the contracted outer edge of the rear wall of the breast pocket presents a single pleat forming a bellows fold.

8. A brassiere comprising the construction defined in claim 3, in which the contracted inner and outer edges of the rear wall present a single pleat forming a bellows fold tapering from the outer to the inner edge, leaving the rear surface of the rear wall substantially flat, and providing fullness at the bottom and the inner end of the breast pocket.

MARY DE WOLF FRENCH. 

